


Lost in a Wasteland

by bewaretheboojum



Category: Agents of Atlas, Batman (Comics), Champions (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Robin (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Angst, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Size Kink, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:55:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24673459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bewaretheboojum/pseuds/bewaretheboojum
Summary: Tim Drake and Amadeus Cho both experience unfortunate multi-dimensional transporter mishaps and end up in the same barren wasteland. They need to rely on each other to survive and build themselves a way home...
Relationships: Tim Drake/Amadeus Cho
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	Lost in a Wasteland

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to salazarastark for the beta help!

Tim ran his parched tongue over dry teeth and tried to swallow around the gritty feeling in his mouth. Gotham City was situated on a bay with a couple of rivers nearby, and Tim never really realized how accustomed he was to the moisture that was perpetually in the air there until now.

Taking a long, deep breath, Tim fought the roil and heave in his stomach. A wave of nausea hit him and Tim fought down the reflex to gag. Taking long deep breaths he struggled to keep his breathing slow and even. Closing his eyes, Tim took a minute to collect himself.

Tim looked out at the dusty expanse of the city in front of him. He was on the main street that ran through the center of Star City, an area usually bustling with people shopping and walking to and from work. Right now, it was absolutely deserted.

Sounds of the city were replaced by the whistle of dry winds blustering between buildings. There was no sound of birds, animals, or insects in the air. No sign of life at all. Just the whistle of the wind between the buildings and rustle of trash as it blew down the empty streets.

Tapping the readout on his glove computer, Tim called up his computer screen. He scanned the area for warm bodies. Any warm bodies. He came up completely empty. Pursing his lips with worry, he checked for radio or cell signals, any sign people were communicating with each other.

Nothing.

No indication of people anywhere.

Pursing his lips, Tim checked his readings for a third time, a dull sense of dread and worry creeping over him and settling into the pit of his stomach.

Years back, Tim and Hiro had been tinkering with a multidimensional transporter. When they had first built the thing, it had mostly been a theoretical exercise. They hadn't actually wanted to move around through the multiverse so much as they wanted to see if they could build a portable device that could. Preferably with less fanfare than a Boom Tube.

They had never gotten the device to work consistently, and the thing sat on Tim's shelf for the last six years. When Tim had finally decided to clean out his Nest and send the thing back to Hiro, he had accidentally activated it and--

Here he was.

In a barren, post-apocalyptic Star City without a sign of life or a way to get home as the transporter had remained back in his homeworld.

And he still really wanted to puke.

As the shock began to wear off, Tim was relieved he was wearing his uniform at least. He wasn’t sure what he had the potential of encountering here. While apparently there was no one around, that didn't necessarily mean he wasn't in danger.

It was a few hours before Tim finally decided to give up on trying to find another human. When he finally did, he figured his best course of action was to find a functional vehicle he could use to get himself to a lab where he could potentially build another multidimensional transporter. Starr Labs was maybe a two-day drive from here and Karen always had the best spare parts lying around.

Tim was just worried he wouldn’t be able to manage to make something functional without Hiro.

If Tim was being honest, Hiro had done a lot of heavy lifting last time.

There were dozens of cars lining the streets. Some were parked and some looked like they had just stopped in the middle of the road. A few had collided, as if their drivers had just vanished while they were trying to drive.

Tim was moving from vehicle to vehicle, testing to see if any of them would start when he heard a loud crashing sound and the ground shook with a reverberating rhythm. Tim climbed quickly from the car he was half inside of, stopping to listen carefully. The sounds were coming from about five blocks away.

Pulling out his bo, Tim took off at a run in the direction of the sound. Sprinting around a corner, he caught sight of a puff of dust that was kicked up into the air in a thick, swirling cloud. The wind kicked up, blowing the grit out and around and Tim fought down a cough as he neared the epicenter of the activity.

Blinking rapidly, Tim peered through the cloud, thankful his mask kept his eyes protected from the worst of the dust. As he got closer, he saw a figure lying at the center of the commotion. The figure let out a low moan and levered himself up.

The man at the center was big. Really big. 

Bigger than Superman.

Much bigger than Superman actually.

His pigmentation was deep emerald green, and he was wearing spandex that looked a lot like a superhero uniform. His hair was half spiked, half mussed and the expression on his face was absolutely miserable.

The man kneeled up, grimaced, and then turned to the side and immediately vomited. He coughed and gagged, heaving again as he shook his head and moaned.

Tucking his staff into his belt, figuring it wouldn't be much help against someone this size, Tim pulled out a taser Batarang. He palmed it and moved in close, watching the man carefully.

"You ok?" Tim called out to him a little hesitantly.

The green man started, looking surprised when he turned to face Tim. That lasted for about thirty seconds before he grimaced again and then turned and dry heaved a few times.

"So, that's a no, then?" Tim joked lamely and moved in closer to the man, moving slowly and watching him intently.

The green man waved a very large hand at him while he dry heaved for a long moment. Tim came in to stand next to him. He could see sweat breaking out across the man's face, making his hair stick to his skin.

Size aside, he didn't seem angry or threatening. He had no visible weapons and had made no immediate move to attack Tim.

Tim tucked his Batarang away and crouched down beside the man, watching him carefully.

"I'm good," the large green man gasped, trying to give Tim a smile but only managing a lopsided and unconvincing approximation. "I'm good."

"Yeah, I can tell," Tim said. "I also always puke when I'm good."

The green man huffed out a short laugh and shook his head.

He looked young, maybe a year or two older than Tim. Despite the green skin, he looked human, not like any alien species. At least not like any alien species Tim had encountered before.

And he did speak English, which was a plus.

"I promise, I'm done," the man gasped out, trying to rock back on his heels but mostly only managing to fall on his butt in the middle of the crater. He was large, but not graceless. He mostly just looked tired, his limbs looking strong but heavy with exhaustion.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely not, but I'm trying to be optimistic."

"Not an approach I can understand, but I do respect it."

The man looked up at him with tear-filled green eyes and smiled. This time, the smile was a lot more convincing. It made its way up into his eyes and small dimples broke out on one side of his chin.

He was handsome, despite being drenched in sweat. His face was open and friendly, his smile seemed to come easily and his eyes were--

If Tim was being honest with himself, he would admit that his eyes were very nice, full of humor, open and trusting. They were as green as the rest of him, but they were darker, fuller, more of a velvet than anything else.

Tim swallowed hard as he found himself returning the smile. Tim’s was more hesitant, more guarded, but it was there. He couldn't help himself.

"I'm Brawn," the man said, getting to his feet and holding a hand out to Tim.

Tim looked up at him when he stood and felt a sort of thrill run through him. He hadn't quite realized how much larger the man was than him until he got to his feet.

The top of Tim's head barely came up to Brawn's shoulder. His chest was broad, wide, and strong. His thighs were almost as thick as Tim's entire torso. When Tim reached out a hand to return his handshake, Tim's hand was dwarfed.

"Brawn makes sense," Tim said tentatively, feeling the gentle strength in Brawn's grip as they shook.

"You are?"

"Red Robin. You can call me Red if you want."

He grinned down at Tim again until the wind kicked up, blowing dust up around them and making Brawn begin to cough and gag again. He brought his arm up to cover his mouth, but his eyes were drawn shut against the grit.

"Let's get to a more sheltered area and maybe see if we can't find you some water," Tim suggested.

Brawn didn't answer, just nodded his head and followed Tim's lead as he took off down the street towards a building with an open doorway.

"Where," Brawn gasped out between coughing, "where are we?"

"I'm not sure," Tim admitted. "I think we're in Star City but everything is weird."

"Where's Star City and why is it weird?"

"Star City is about 300 miles from Gotham and Metropolis," Tim explained. "And it's weird because there are usually lots of people here."

"Gotham? Metropolis?"

Tim led them into a building. Parts of the ceiling had fallen in and furniture was broken and scattered across the lobby.

Tim turned to face Brawn and waited until he blinked the grit out of his eyes to look down at Tim.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Tim asked.

"I'm guessing you're not either," Brawn said with a smile.

Tim watched him carefully for a long minute before tilting his head non-noncommittally before speaking again.

"Let's see if we can't find you some water somewhere in here."

^*^*^*^*^**^

Amadeus wasn't feeling great.

Even after throwing up, he was still feeling the after-effects of the multidimensional transportation he just experienced. He was dizzy and sick, and ended up sitting on the floor taking a breather while Red went looking for some water.

Sitting with his back against a crumbling wall, Amadeus made himself take slow, deep breaths, focusing on not throwing up again. 

It was a small goal, but a good one.

Red seemed horrifyingly competent and he really wanted to stop throwing up in front of him. Just so that he seemed like someone who was a little bit less of a disaster.

He had almost managed to settle his stomach, and the black spots had stopped floating across his field of vision, when Red came back.

Red looked to be a little younger than Amadeus. He was just under average height and slender. His expression was serious, almost unreadable as he eyed Amadeus. As if watching how he reacted and moved could tell him everything he needed to know. Even as he made jokes, Amadeus could tell he was choosing his words carefully and studying the way Amadeus reacted. 

He knelt down beside Amadeus and handed him a bottle of water. It was warm and the label looked a little faded. It wasn't a brand he recognized. He looked over at Red inquiringly.

"The seal is unbroken and the bottle isn't distended. I can't promise it's 100% bacteria-free, but it's probably the best we can do under these circumstances.”

Amadeus nodded and twisted the cap open, taking a small tentative sip.

"Taste ok?" Red asked, curiously.

Amadeus grimaced and nodded before drinking the whole bottle.

It wasn't until he was finished that he realized maybe Red wanted some too.

"Oh! I didn't even ask if you--"

Red cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"I'm good. There are more bottles over there and you look like you need it more than me."

Amadeus gave him a wry smile and nodded.

"Let's wait a little while and see if there are any after-effects before you drink any," Amadeus suggested. "I'm guessing if there is something in the water I'll deal with it a little better than you."

Red raised a pointed eyebrow at him and nodded.

"That's likely true."

"You said we're in Star City?" Amadeus asked, with a little uncertainty.

"You're unfamiliar with it?" Red pressed, his voice neutral as he watched Amadeus closely.

"Soooooo, I was traveling to Pan and may have had some dragon related mishaps and got sent to a dimension I didn't intend to."

"Dragon related?"

"In my universe, I have a transporter that is powered by dragons."

"Dragons?"

"Yeah, and--"

"Wait, real ones?" Red asked, his face was less serious and more intently curious.

"I mean, yeah."

"Are they... really cool?" Red asked, seemingly unable to help himself.

"Oh for sure. All dragons are cool."

Red nodded as if Amadeus had confirmed something he believed was true for a while.

"Have you ever seen one?"

"Not... not a real one," Red said and while his voice was the same neutral tone he had used since he found Amadeus puking his guts out, he did sound a little disappointed. “Only magically illusions and stuff.”

"So, you didn't get here because of dragons."

"Science experiment," Red said shortly. "Did not go according to plan."

"Oh, I know how that is," Amadeus said with a wry grin.

Red looked at him sharply, consideringly, before nodding again.

"How long have you been here?" Amadeus asked Red, eyeing his dusty uniform and thin frame.

Red puffed out a breath of air, tilted his head to one side and shrugged.

"Just a couple of hours," he admitted. "Long enough to establish no one is around and nothing really works."

"Nothing works?" Amadeus asked.

"I tried to start a car, turn on a light switch,” Tim broke off with an expansive shrug. “Nothing worked. All the electricity is dead."

Amadeus hummed thoughtfully, rubbing at his chin.

"If we're gonna get out of here, we're going to need to build another interdimensional transporter. One that doesn't use dragons, I’m guessing."

"I was thinking the same thing."

"We'll need a lab. A pretty sophisticated one."

"Yeah, so there's a lab a couple hundred miles from here. Starr Laboratories. I'm thinking it'll have most, if not all of what we need."

"A couple hundred miles?"

"It is a lot of miles."

"The cars, you said they were…"

"Out of gas for sure," Red confirmed for him.

"You said no electricity for an electric car?"

"Nope, unless..."

"Unless?"

"It's possible if we hook it up to something that can store solar power."

"Ohhhhh, Sun Cars! I like the sound of this," Amadeus said with a grin, getting to his feet.

"How are you with car repairs?" Red asked, following Amadeus as he walked toward the door they had come in.

"I'm better with solar panels," Amadeus admitted. "You?"

"I"m good with cars, less good with solar so it sounds like--"

"Our powers combined!" Amadeus boomed, stepping back out into the sunlight.

He turned to look at Red, who had a slight smile hovering at the corner of his mouth.

"So, you ready for another science experiment, after the way your last one went?" Amadeus asked as the two of them blinked, eyes adjusted back to the sunlight.

"This one couldn't possibly make things any worse."

"Ohhhhhh, don't say that," Amadeus warned. "Don't ever say that. Things can always be worse."

"That’s fair. Let's look around and see what we have to work with here."

Scouting over a ten-block radius, they found three electric cars, two of which looked like they would still be functional if they could produce an electricity source. They also found a few solar panels mounted to the side of a building. Amadeus pulled them off the wall, watching carefully to make sure all wires were intact and the battery pack was still attached. 

Red watched him consideringly as he worked. Amadeus gave him a grin and settled the large panels on to his back.

"These are easier to carry to the car than the other way around," he explained.

"I believe it. Are you going to be able to carry those so far?"

Amadeus grinned wider.

"Not a problem."

They made their way back to the closest functioning electric car slowly but surely. Amadeus propped the panels up against a nearby wall and started examining it while Red wandered off to find some tools.

It was a couple of hours later when Red came back, even dustier but tugging a cart filled with tools, water, and food he scrouged up. Amadeus grinned at him and pulled open a box of Pop-Tarts.

"My hero," he said with a grin.

"Check to make sure that isn't moldy," Red warned.

"It's a Pop-Tart. It's 70% preservatives, 25% sugar and 4.5% cardboard, and only like .5% fruit. I don’t think mold can grow in those conditions."

The Pop-Tarts were fine. Amadeus ate a strawberry flavored one while Red nibbled at a s'mores flavored Pop-Tart.

"The water was ok?" Red pressed, eyeing one of the water bottles he packed into the cart.

"I'm feeling fine. Much better now that I've had some food," Amadeus said.

Red nodded and popped open one of the water bottles, taking a tentative swig.

Amadeus made his way through an entire box of Pop-Tarts as he picked through the tools Red had brought.

"Ohhh, you got some goodies here," Amadeus cooed as Red came over to peer into the cart with him.

"Think this will do?" Red asked.

"It’s a start," Amadeus said. "Let's build ourselves a Sun Car."

^*^*^*^*^**^

The only CD in the car they found was a Modest Mouse album. Brawn insisted on playing on repeat as they drove. The only thing that kept Tim from trying to strangle him into unconsciousness was the fact that he absolutely would not be able to fit his hands around Brawn's neck.

It had taken Tim and Brawn nearly a day and a half to get the Sun Car up and running. While the whole process had gone smoother than Tim had expected, and working with Brawn had been much easier than he would have thought when he first met the man, Tim was starting to question his judgment after the fourteenth play through of the album.

After the second playthrough, Brawn started to sing along.

It was Brawn's turn to drive and they flew down the highway towards Metropolis, weaving in and out of disabled vehicles.

"Are you not much of a music guy?" Brawn asked loudly over the music and the rush of wind in the car.

Tim hadn't been able to get the air conditioning to function in the new Solar Powered vehicle so they had the windows down wide. Wind blustered through the car, rustling the bags of food Tim had scavenged before they left.

"I take it you are," Tim said dryly, desperate to dodge the question.

"Oh I love music," Brawn gushed, turning from the road to face Tim. "Put on a little Luna Snow and I will rock out all night."

"Luna Snow?"

"Luna Snow! She’s amazing!" Brawn gushed. "Have you heard her song 'Tonight'? So good."

"I've never heard of her?"

"Really? Oh right, different dimensions!" Brawn said, smacking himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand.

Tim didn't have the heart to tell Brawn that he had never listened to any KPop in any dimension. Probably best to keep that to himself.

By the time the sun started to set over the horizon, Tim had mostly taught himself to tune out the music and Brawn's singing.

When Brawn let out a huge yawn Tim glanced over to him.

"Maybe we should pull over. Get some rest for the night. We still have a few hours of driving to go."

"Not the worst idea," Brawn agreed. "I could use some grub."

They pulled off in a picnic area off the highway. There were outdoor tables and a couple of water fountains that didn't work anymore. Brawn pulled a bag of food out of the car and the two sleeping bags Tim had scrounged from a store in Star City.

"Been a while since I've slept under the stars!" Brawn said as they set up camp.

"When was the last time?" Tim asked, curious.

"Oh absolutely never," Brawn said with a grin, pulling out a box of Pop-Tarts. "I'm not really the outdoorsy type. What about you?"

It was the sense memory that hit Tim first. The remembered scent of rotting, fetid fabric. The thick musk of smoke and spray paint heavy in the air. How everything felt damp and cold.

Tim had been pointedly making himself not think about Gotham City after the Quake as he scavenged for food and blankets back in Star City. It hadn't been easy then and it wasn't easy now. Watching Brawn down an entire box full of Pop-Tarts he tried not to wince.

This wasn't like Gotham after the Quake. There was plenty of food and no other people and Brawn looked like a guy who needed a lot of Pop-Tarts.

"Been a while," Tim said lamely, fiddling at another pack of Pop-Tarts.

"You've only eaten one of those today," Brawn pointed out, nodding to the silver packet in his hands. "Aren't you hungry?"

Tim shrugged and broke off one corner.

"I'm not much into Pop-Tarts," Tim said. "The marshmallow is super fake."

"Dude, I have news for you. All marshmallows are super fake."

"No, they're not! Crocky-Marshes are great. Especially the strawberry ones."

Brawn hummed and tilted his head to one side.

"Must be another dimensional difference," he said.

"You don't have Crocky-Marshes?"

"Nah man, Marshmallows just aren't good in my dimension."

Tim gave him a dirty look and reached for a bottle of water.

The sun had fully set and the grass was growing damp with dew. Stars began to twinkle into life above them.

Brawn tilted his head back to look up at them.

"Are you... Are you doing okay?" Brawn asked, eyes fixed on the sky above them.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Hopefully we find some fresher water at some point. But I'm fine."

"No, I just mean... Are you okay okay? Like... This whole thing is crazy and very scary. Are you okay?"

"Oh uh, yeah, I'm okay. This isn't exactly my first rodeo."

"You're used to post-apocalyptic survivalism?"

"I mean that and--"

"And?

“I'm a cape, you know. This is what we do."

"Yeah, I get that. I used to have that attitude, but then I realized..."

"What?"

"The trauma always catches up to you, man. Always."

Tim didn't actually know what to say to that. Mostly because Brawn was right and Tim didn't like admitting that particular fact, even to himself.

"Like..." Brawn began again, hesitantly, eyes still focused on the sky. "I started out thinking: hey, I'm super strong and super smart. What's the worst that could happen? And then... Then my best friend died."

Tim froze at that, his whole body tensing at Brawn's words as Kon’s face popped up in his mind’s eye.

"He was supposed to be this incredibly powerful being. Godlike, even. And he died. He just died," Brawn’s voice got very small then and a lot quieter than Tim was used to hearing from him.

Brawn took a deep breath, his broad chest expanding impossibly wide as he did.

"And then it was like... If he can die, what does that mean? It changed so much. It changed everything and then suddenly... It caught up with me, you know? The trauma and the loss and everything I had been pushing down. It caught up to me and now... I don't try to outrun it. I just try to watch for it. And right now, I think it's maybe all around us.."

The silence stretched out between them for a long, lingering moment.

"I'm sorry," Tim said, and he knew his voice sounded tight and choked. "I'm sorry about your friend."

Out of the corner of his eye, Tim could see Brawn turn to look at him with a small, sad smile.

"Thanks. I miss him every day."

"I know-- I know the feeling. My best friend... He…"

Tim couldn't finish. His voice was tight too as he thought about that battlefield, as he thought about Cassie's screams and the scent of blood and how, when he had finally found Kon, he didn't even recognize him anymore. He had been beaten so badly that he didn't even look like that person Tim had known. The person Tim had loved.

Brawn didn't say anything to him then, just reached out a large, thick arm and wrapped it around Tim's shoulders. He pulled Tim against him in a side hug.

"My name is Amadeus," Brawn said then. "Amadeus Cho. And I'm glad I met you here."

"My name is Tim," Tim said in a soft, small voice, not looking up at Amadeus. "I think I’m glad I met you here too, AC."

^*^*^*^*^**^ 

It had started to rain in the middle of the night, totally unexpectedly. A torrential downpour hit them like a wave, the rain pelting them with large harsh droplets.

Amadeus had woken up to the sound of Tim swearing, and then the rain hit him. By the time the two of them had climbed out of their sleeping bags, grabbed the rest of their supplies, and rushed into the car, they were both drenched.

They had spent a night sleeping fitfully in the car. They were cramped, damp, and cold. Around four in the morning, Tim let out a sigh and started up the engine.

"I'm not going to get any more sleep," he explained to Amadeus. "I might as well drive."

Amadeus got a few more hours of sleep and by the time he woke, the rain was starting to wane. Their sleeping bags were draped over the backs of their seats to dry as much as they could. Amadeus fished around in the backseat of the car, grabbing something to eat.

"What I wouldn't give for a nice bowl of congee right now," he groaned, looking sadly down at yet another box of Pop-Tarts. "With an egg on top."

Tim let out a sigh and nodded in agreement.

"Or a hot cup of coffee," Tim added.

"We might be able to swing that for you. It probably wouldn't be fresh, but we could scrounge for some."

Tim nodded as Amadeus pulled open a packet of Pop-Tarts and grimly started in.

"What time is it?" Amadeus asked and Tim glanced down at his wrist computer.

"It's seven in the morning Eastern Time," Tim said. "So you got another two-ish hours of sleep."

Amadeus did his best to stretch his neck muscles and grimaced. His legs felt cramped and his shoulders were stiff from sleeping upright.

"How much further?" he asked.

"Hard to say. I don't exactly have a GPS helping us out here. But I think, if we're lucky and I don't miss any turns, we'll be there in another couple of hours."

"You've been to this lab before? You know it has what we need?"

"Yes, I've been there a few times. It should have almost everything."

"Let's hope so," Amadeus groaned. "I would very much like to get home."

Tim hummed in agreement and rolled down the windows to let some air into the car. It was getting musty.

The rain had totally stopped by then and the sun was breaking through the clouds. The road was still damp and slick; water pooled in spots that had been pocked by shifts in the earth beneath it.

"I'd like to think there are people back home looking for me," Amadeus mused as he pulled open another pack of Pop-Tarts. "But it could be one of those situations where they don't even realize they should be looking."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Tim said grimly. "Who knows how long until someone notices we're gone."

"Ummmm, I meant that this may be a temporal and a dimensional shift. Not so much that people wouldn't notice we're missing."

Tim stilled, then nodded.

"You don't think anyone would know you were gone?" Amadeus pressed.

Tim shook his head and took a deep breath.

"Sometimes I-- I work on a lot of cases alone and not everyone... Checks in."

"What about your parents?" Amadeus asked.

"What about yours?"

"They died. A while back," he answered softly.

Tim grimaced and gave him a sympathetic look.

"Yeah, same here."

"For a while, it was just me and Hercules. Then when he passed away. I have more friends now though. I'm part of a couple of teams," Amadeus said, trying to put a positive spin on things.

"I-- I have a team. And brothers and sisters."

"Oh yeah? How many?"

"Too many," Tim answered grimly.

Amadeus laughed.

"Man, I can't picture you fighting over who gets control of the remote with anyone."

"It's more fighting over who gets to use the flamethrower that night. We're all capes."

"Oh yeah?"

"Makes life easier that way."

"I bet."

They talked the next few hours as they drove. Amadeus told Tim more about Hercules, about the Champions and Viv, he told him about the Agents of Atlas and the dragons. Tim was still very impressed with the dragons.

Tim gave Amadeus very little in additional information about himself. Amadeus knew he was a member of a couple of teams himself, he had been a cape for close to a decade now and that his family could be very nosy.

Nothing about his best friend who died. Nothing about his parents. Nothing about the scars Amadeus had seen on his hands and arms when Tim had washed earlier.

When they finally arrived at the lab Tim had been looking for, it was getting pretty close to dusk. They had found a big box store along the way and picked up more supplies. Some food, fuel canisters, a camp stove, and new sleeping bags, along with a few spare ones just in case.

Amadeus had their supplies slung across his back as Tim eyed the doors to the building, trying to figure out how to get inside.

"Great, every other door we find is hanging open and this damn place is locked up tight," Tim grumbled, pulling at a large sliding glass door that did not budge a millimeter. “Leave it to Peej to build a lab that can withstand an apocalypse.”

"Let me try," Amadeus said, setting down the supplies. He pressed his hands against the glass sliding doors and used all his might to push. There was a screeching, shattering sound as the gears holding the doors in place gave way under the force of his weight. He managed to pull the doors open wide enough for him and Tim to slip inside, though Amadeus had to go in sideways.

"You're a useful man to have around, AC," Tim said, smiling up at Amadeus as their eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the building. 

"You've just been lucky. I'm excellent at jerry-rigging solar panel cars and breaking doors. Just don't fall in love with me. I'm a disaster at relationships."

"Noted," Tim said, and his voice sounded more amused than anything as they picked their way through the lobby of the building. The air inside felt thick with dust and a little musty. It still had that underlying scent of 'clean' that was just how most laboratories smelled.

The walls had been a stark bright white that had faded into a duller shade under the coating of dust and grime that had settled over everything.

They found a bank of offices where they could store their gear and set up their little sleeping area. Tim scavenged a couple of scant couch cushions that wouldn't do much to soften their sleeping arrangements, but they were better than nothing.

Leaving behind their supplies, the two of them made their way to the laboratories.

"So you knew someone who worked here, or something," Amadeus pressed as Tim wound his way through hallways.

"Mmmm, yeah. Another cape. She's a genius. She ended up in our dimension after a mishap in her old one. Honestly, I think she still tinkers with inter-dimensional travel now and then."

"Comforting. The tinkering I mean. Not her getting lost in the multiverse."

Tim grimaced at that and nodded.

"Agreed."

They started by taking inventory of the labs and supply closets. They had only really gone through about a third of the materials available to them when it ultimately became too dark to see.

Tim let out a sigh and shook his head, pulling the circuit board Amadeus was trying to see in the darkness away from his face.

"AC, I think it might be best if we try again in the morning," Tim said. "I wouldn't want to accidentally destroy something delicate working in the dark."

"That's fair." Amadeus sighed.

They made their way back into the office and while Amadeus tried to light the camp stove, Tim pulled the sleeping bags out and set them up.

It took Amadeus almost an hour to get the camp stove set up and functional. About four of the propane canisters they had grabbed didn't work at all. When Amadeus finally did find one with fuel still in it, he crowed in victory. The fire popped to life and lit a small area around the desk where he was cooking.

Tim walked over, his face shadowed by the eerie light of the small flame.

Amadeus moved quickly, pulling out a small pot and a couple of bottles of sealed water. He filled the pot quickly and put it over the flame.

Amadeus pulled a couple of cups of instant ramen out of the bag of supplies he and Tim had found that day.

"How many do you want?" Amadeus asked, pulling four out for himself.

"One's good," Tim said, watching the flame intently.

"Just one?" Amadeus asked, skeptically.

"You're about four times my size," Tim pointed out, shooting a small smile Amadeus's way.

"Yeah, I can't help but think that has something to do with how little you eat."

"I'm fine with one," Tim said softly.

Amadeus prepped their noodles and they turned off the flame as soon as they could.

"Let's hope the rest of the canisters we found are functional," Tim said, gratefully take his cup of ramen from Amadeus.

"My guess is," Amadeus said around a mouthful of ramen, "that about half of them will be good. Depending on how long this takes, we’ll probably need to find more."

Tim hummed thoughtfully as he took a sip of his broth. It was hard to see in the dark, but Amadeus could swear that Tim had shut his eyes with pleasure as he ate the hot food.

"Not the best meal I've ever had," Amadeus said. "But I'm just glad it's warm."

"Agreed. Nice work on dinner, AC," Tim said, using his spoon to scoop up some noodles.

They talked companionably about the parts they had found and whether or not they would be useful.

Tim had found some graphing paper and pencils in one of the offices when he went to find more cushions. They planned to use them the next morning to sketch out the schematics and identify what parts they would need to find or at least approximate.

While it was still fairly early in the evening when he finished with his dinner, between the heavy lifting, the fitful sleep he had gotten the night before, and the warm food, Amadeus was feeling pretty close to exhausted.

Letting out a large yawn as he cleaned up from their dinner Amadeus shook his head.

"I think I might go to sleep now," he said. "Then we can start early tomorrow."

Tim nodded in agreement.

When Amadeus made his way over to where Tim had set up the sleeping bags, he was pleasantly surprised. Between the couch cushions, the extra sleeping bags, a couple of blankets and some pillows, Tim had built a nice little sleeping nest for them. Amadeus kicked off his boots and his dusty clothes before slipping into the little cocoon blankets.

"Wow," Amadeus said, snuggling into the warmth. "This is nice..."

It was too dark in the office where they had set up for Amadeus to see Tim clearly but he could tell Tim was taking off his uniform fully for the first time since they had arrived in this universe. Amadeus bit back a sympathetic wince as he heard the loud thunk of the body armor Tim had been wearing hit the ground. It couldn't have been comfortable living and sleeping in that get-up.

Tim's pale skin did stand out in the darkness as he slipped into the nest of blankets next to Amadeus, wearing only his boxers,.

"Thanks, I've had some practice," Tim said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, let's just say this isn't the first time I've had to go without a bed for an extended period of time. A guy learns to make do with what he has."

"Yeesh," Amadeus said, reaching his arms up to put his hands behind his head.

"Though, I am accustomed to sharing the accommodations with someone a little smaller," Tim said, nudging Amadeus with a cold elbow to move a little more to the side.

"Yeah, what can I say. This much brilliance and strength cannot be contained by a normal human-sized body."

Tim huffed out a laugh and snuggled deeper into the nest.

"I'll bet."

"So who was it last time?" Amadeus teased. "A pretty girlfriend? Your crush?"

Tim went very still and silent beside him and Amadeus wished he had kept his big mouth shut.

"No," Tim said softly. "It was my brother. It was more like this than anything else. More just... Survival." Tim shook his head and pulled the blanket up to his chin. "It was a long time ago."

That last statement was said with a finality that made it clear that Tim didn't want to talk about it anymore.

Amadeus fought down a sigh and wondered what he could say to ease the tension that had sprouted up between them. Unfortunately, he fell asleep before he managed to figure out what to say.

It was still dark when he woke again, hours later. Blinking, he struggled to figure out what it had been that had jolted him awake. The office was quiet, their little blanket nest was warm and his stomach, for once, wasn't insisting on more food.

Then he heard the noise again.

It was a small, soft whimper.

Turning to face Tim, he saw that the other man was on his side at the edge of the nest, curled up in a tight ball. His arms were up around his head as if he was trying to block out a blow and he was making these small, hurt sounds in the back of his throat. They were high, desperate, and afraid in a way that made Amadeus's heart pound. He only hesitated for a moment before reaching out a hand to place it on Tim's shoulder.

Tim darted awake then, bolting up in their bed, panting hard as he looked down at Amadeus. Even in the darkness, he could see that Tim's eyes were wide with terror. His chest heaved as he struggled to control his breathing.

"What--" Tim bit out, his voice breathless and full of fear.

"You were... having a nightmare, I think," Amadeus said in what he hoped was a soft and soothing voice. "I just thought--"

"I'm fine," Tim said, running a hand over his face. "I'm fine."

Amadeus shook his head and reached out. He pulled Tim back down in the nest of blankets and wrapped his arms around him. Tim was tense in his arms, muscles stiff and hard. Amadeus could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his breathing was shallow and fast. His body felt cool to the touch and Amadeus could feel Tim’s agitation.

"It's ok," Amadeus said, running what he hoped was a soothing hand up and down Tim's bare back. "We're safe here. And we're gonna find our way home."

Tim's skin was littered with scars that Amadeus couldn't see, but could absolutely feel. He had goosebumps all over him and he shivered a little in Amadeus's arms.

"Between you and me," Amadeus continued, not really thinking about what he was saying but still trying to be soothing. "We'll figure this out in no time. Our brains and my incredible and irresistible strength, we'll be home eating ice cream in no time."

Tim huffed out a small laugh at that and relaxed incrementally in Amadeus's arms.

"I'm sorry I woke you," Tim said to him softly, as he shifted in, resting his head on Amadeus's shoulder and lining his body up along the length of Amadeus's. "I know you didn't sleep well last night either."

"It's ok," Amadeus said. "I get bad dreams too sometimes and tomorrow we have coffee."

Tim hummed thoughtfully and nodded.

"Very true."

"And maybe we can find some way to bathe," Amadeus said. "I'm surprised I didn't wake you with my smell."

Tim huffed out a small laugh. It tickled the skin of Amadeus's shoulder and made something warm and happy curl in the pit of his stomach.

"I've smelled worse. I promise."

Tim fell back to sleep first, his body finally relaxing and his breathing shifting back into a steady, even rhythm, Amadeus made himself stay up a little while longer after that. Listening to Tim breathe and feeling his steady heartbeat.

He wondered, as Tim slept, what the dream was about. It could have been nearly anything. Maybe about his parents, who had died. Maybe about his best friend, who he had lost. Or maybe it was about the day he got one of the many scars Amadeus could feel all down his back. Maybe it was something else.

Something Amadeus couldn't even begin to imagine.

These last few days had been so strangely intimate. As if the two of them were locked away together. The whole world was empty except for them. Together.

It was easy for Amadeus to slip into companionable conversation, to talk about his life and his world. It was clear Tim was much more guarded. There were a lot of things he didn't want to talk about.

Or maybe it was just that he couldn't. Maybe the wounds were too fresh for him.

It was hard for Amadeus, at first, to talk about what had happened to Hercules. To his parents.

Sometimes...

Sometimes a guy just needed time to find the right words.

Amadeus couldn't help but wonder how long Tim had been searching for those words.

Amadeus knew what it was like to wake up alone to nightmares like those. He didn't want Tim to have another one. Wrapping an arm around Tim's sleeping form, he pulled Tim in close and drifted off to sleep.

^*^*^*^*^**^

Fortunately, Peej did have about ninety-eight percent of the materials they needed to construct their transporter. The other two percent Tim and Amadeus had been able to figure out how to manufacture themselves.

Tim was working on soldering a piece of circuit board in one of the smaller labs, goggles, and gloves feeling hot on his face while he worked. The delicate work required concentration, but not so much that Tim didn't have time to think about the next steps in their plans.

If Tim was being honest with himself, when it came to people to be stuck in an abandoned post-apocalyptic dimension, Amadeus was probably the best option. He was smart as hell, very hard working, strong enough to make almost everything possible.

It didn't hurt that he was also kind and he liked to talk.

He did eat a truly alarming amount of food but, given they didn't have anyone to compete with for resources, Tim had learned to stop stressing about it.

They had to stop at the big box store a few more times to stock up on food and camp supplies over the course of the last four weeks. They had been making steady work on their transporter and it was always a hassle to have to venture out for more supplies, but fortunately, they had found several nearby spots they could scavenge. 

Tim was pretty sure he would never eat Pop-Tarts or instant noodles ever again when he got back to Gotham.

It would be, Tim estimated, another week or so before they could complete their transporter and begin testing. So they were, technically, more than halfway home.

It was obvious that Amadeus was getting anxious to be back. Each day he talked more and more about his teams, about his favorite places to eat, about his apartment and his dog, Kirby.

Tim was anxious to get home too. To be honest, when he didn't have the means to check in on his siblings regularly, Tim worried about them. 

They were, uniquely, tragedy prone.

Amadeus swore loudly in Korean, loud enough that Tim could hear him two rooms over. Cutting the power on his soldering tool, Tim looked up briefly. When he heard another crash and a swear, Tim pulled off his gloves and goggles and rushed into the lab where Amadeus was working.

He found Amadeus kneeling on the floor, a large chunk of metal he had been trying to attach to the top of the device they were building was on the floor next to him. He was rubbing at his head with one large, green hand, looking petulant and in pain.

"Did it fall?" Tim asked, rushing over to where Amadeus knelt.

"Yeah, it fucking slipped out of my hands. The damn thing hit me in the head," Amadeus said bitterly.

Gripping Amadeus by the wrist, he pulled his hand away from the injury. Even kneeling like this, he was taller than Tim by nearly a head. Stepping in close, Tim got up on his tiptoes but still couldn't properly see the wound.

Pursing his lips, Tim kicked off his boots. Putting one foot on AC's thigh, he stepped up, balancing there as he ran his fingers through AC's hair, looking for broken skin.

He tried to be gentle but AC still winced when Tim found the tender spot the metal piece had hit. The skin wasn't broken and there was no blood but Tim could still see a darkening green area on his scalp where a bruise was rising to the surface.

Tilting his head to one side, he wondered briefly if Amadeus had given himself a concussion. He slid his hand from AC's hair down to his chin and tilted his head back to look up at Tim.

His pupils didn't look abnormal but his skin was flushed a slightly darker shade of green and his breathing was--

That was when a wave of embarrassment hit Tim.

He was standing on AC, his body pressed against Amadeus's chest. Amadeus had lifted an arm so one broad, strong hand pressed against the small of Tim's back, steadying him. Tim's fingers were cupping Amadeus's bearded jaw. A pair of brilliant green eyes were looking up at him with an intensity that made something in Tim's stomach go hot and liquid.

Amadeus's lips were parted and slightly damp as if he had been biting at them in pain. His skin felt so warm and perfect under Tim's fingers.

He could feel his own heart rate begin to elevate as a flush washed across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.

"I uh--" he said, stepping down from where he was standing on AC's lap. "The skin's not broken and it doesn't look like you have a concussion.”

Amadeus grinned at him and feigned knocking on the side of his head.

"Thank God, for thick skulls," he joked, smiling sheepishly at Tim. “Plus, I heal quick.”

"Yeah... uh. Sorry, for that..." Tim said lamely, taking a step back from Amadeus. "I didn't mean to... climb you like a tree..."

Amadeus huffed out a laugh and gave Tim an almost heavy-lidded smile.

"I don't mind. There's gotta be some perks to being this big," he said.

Tim felt his face flush then and his mouth went dry. 

"Did you," Tim started and then cleared his throat. "Did you want help? I could weld the piece into place while you hold it."

"Not your worst idea," Amadeus said, getting to his feet. "This headache kind of sucks. Let’s take a break and make some dinner and then maybe we can teamwork this out tomorrow.”

Tim had no doubt they would teamwork it out.

Tim was a little uncomfortable with how easy it felt to teamwork things out with AC.

^*^*^*^*^**^

Amadeus was feeling a little flustered.

Not that he wasn't used to feeling flustered to some extent. He would be the first to admit his love life was one disaster after another. But considering for an inter-dimensional love affair with a guy with whom he was fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic hellscape was a lot even for him.

But Tim was--

Ok, Tim was a guy who very likely had an advanced degree in being deeply enigmatic, but also--

But also he had very nice hands.

The ghost of his cool, slender fingers pressing firmly against Amadeus’s jaw as he tilted his head back and looked intently into his eyes was a sensation that would haunt Amadeus for a long time.

Tim's slender frame pressed up against his chest, the warmth of this skin and the taut sinew of his back muscles under Amadeus's palm had felt too good.

Then when Tim had blushed, apologized huskily for 'climbing him like a tree...'

The impulse to pull Tim into his arms and press a kiss to his lips was almost too much for Amadeus to resist.

When he had asked Tim for a breather, it was more for him to cool off than it was to wait for his headache to dissipate.

Amadeus had made himself walk outside into the cool early evening air. It had been far, far too long since he had been alone and he was feeling a little... flustered.

He was going to stick with flustered.

Huffing out a sigh, he grabbed the solar shower he and Tim had scavenged in their last stop to the big box store.

Amadeus had resigned himself to being mostly dirty for the long haul but Tim, apparently, had issues with having dirty hair. He had been washing it in cold water. When they found the solar shower, he had been excited.

Amadeus had filled the black bladder bag, with a large water jug they had found at the big box store. They carted the whole thing home and Tim had given Amadeus clear instructions on what type of spot he should place the bladder to warm the water.

Lugging the bladder back inside Starr Laboratories, he hung it on the showerhead of the decontamination shower.

"Shower's ready!" he called out to Tim in a shrill teasing tone of voice.

Tim popped his head out almost immediately,

"Does the bladder feel warm?" Tim asked, his voice sounded more eager than Amadeus had ever heard it before.

"It does feel warm. I don't think you're going to get a hot shower, but it won't be cold water."

A small smile hovered at the corners of Tim's mouth and he ducked quickly into their sleeping area.

They had added a couple more pieces of comfort there, a low table where they could eat their dinner and a lamp they had rigged to work via a small solar charger.

Tim came out with a ditty bag and a towel, already pulling off his clothes.

Amadeus hastily made his way back into their small office bedroom. Tim was, apparently, fairly accustomed to communal nudity.

Amadeus was not, so much.

He could hear the splash of the water as Tim rinsed off in the other room and Amadeus made himself focus on cooking dinner.

It was only a few minutes later when Tim, a towel wrapped around his slender hips, walked into the dimly lit office where Amadeus was just lighting the camp stove.

"Was it everything you hoped and dreamed for?" Amadeus asked, trying to keep his voice light but even he could hear the breathiness to his tone.

Tim flashed him a quick smile and nodded.

Tim was still damp from his shower. It made his pale skin glow in the dim lamplight. His hair was curling at the tips, sticking to his neck and ears. Amadeus could tell he was shivering slightly and goosebumps had broken out across his skin, but Tim looked happy.

"Not everything," Tim admitted. "But close enough. It’s good to feel clean again."

"Happy now?”

"As close to it as I’m going to get here," Tim said on a sigh and crouched down to dig into a bag of spare clothes they had liberated. "I left enough water for you to shower."

Tim glanced up from the bag and looked Amadeus over.

"Well, I think it's enough," Tim said and gave Amadeus a wry smile.

"Very kind of you," Amadeus said, trying not to blush. "I can take one after dinner."

Tim looked up, frowning at Amadeus. His towel was loosening and about to fall off his slender hips, but Tim didn't seem to notice.

"The water won't be as warm," Tim pointed out.

"I think I'm a little less sensitive to the cold than you," Amadeus said. "I'll be fine if the water cools for another 45 minutes or so."

Tim nodded and grabbed a pair of basketball shorts and a tank top they had liberated the other day. He pulled off his towel and Amadeus made a show of focusing on the pot of Spaghetti-O’s he was heating. He did peek, though. Just out of the corner of one eye.

Tim's frame was well-muscled, his skin pale but riven with scars. The sight of them made Amadeus wince internally. The two of them had talked a lot over the course of the past few weeks but Tim never mentioned the violence he must have experienced to get scars like that.

Amadeus knew it would be rude to ask Tim about the scars. He hated it whenever anyone asked him questions like that. But he still wanted to know.

Talking with Tim had gotten easier over the course of the past few weeks. Not easy, but easier. Tim was still guarded at times, distant as well. But that just made all the other moments when he wasn't even better. When Tim laughed at one of his bad jokes, or told him about his friends, or talked about his family, or just smiled. That felt like a victory to Amadeus.

Right now, it almost felt like he was making progress on two projects, the interdimensional travel device, and learning more about Tim.

As Tim changed his clothes, Amadeus made himself focus on dishing out food. Grabbing two bowls and some spoons, he put dinner out for the two of them at the low coffee table they had been using to eat. He sat on the floor by his own plate, criss-cross applesauce. Tim joined him a few minutes later, his hair still damp from the shower.

"Shower. Clean clothes. Food. Soon we sleep. I might end up being a productive human being tomorrow," Tim joked.

"If this was you being less than productive, I'm a little worried I'm gonna fall behind," Amadeus said with a smile.

Tim picked up his spoon and a napkin and started in on his dinner.

Sometimes, when they sat together like this for dinner, it felt less like they were trapped alone in a post-apocalyptic universe together and more like they were just friends on the weirdest road trip ever. Amadeus couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if he had met Tim in a different way.

How would dinner go if they were meeting at his favorite pizza shop? Relaxing in a small booth drinking beer and eating as much as they wanted, not worried about conserving supplies.

"I will wow you tomorrow, I'm sure," Tim said.

"Me too," Amadeus agreed. "I think we're actually pretty close."

Tim hummed in agreement as he chewed a mouthful of food.

"I think so too," he said after he swallowed. "We should be able to begin testing soon, I just--"

Tim broke off with a sigh and shook his head.

"You just?"

Tim lifted an eyebrow and shrugged.

"No live subjects to test with," he said with a grimace.

"That is a good point I hadn't considered," Amadeus agreed, his heart sinking a little.

"Yeah, not ideal," Tim said grimly.

They discussed possibilities for testing phases as they finished their meal and came up with the best plan they could under the circumstances.

After they finished dinner, Amadeus went to use the shower. Tim had barely left him enough water. But then, the bladder didn't hold that much to begin with.

It was nice to get fully clean, though. He scrubbed off the best he could and pulled on clean clothes. Tim was right, it did make him feel better. More human.

Tim was already in their little nest of blankets by the time Amadeus made his way back into the office they were set up in. Amadeus climbed in next to Tim and Tim rolled over on to his back to look up at the ceiling above them.

“Another week, maybe. If the tests are positive,” Tim said musingly. 

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too.”

“We’ll be home soon, AC,” Tim’s voice was quiet, contemplative now.

“Yeah,” Amadeus agreed. “Soon.”

Tim fell asleep soon after that, but Amadeus stayed awake, thinking about what he would leave behind when he stepped into that transporter.

^*^*^*^*^*^*

The first box of Pop-Tarts they sent through the transporter caught on fire.

Which wasn't necessarily the worst outcome.

Tim even let out a low cheer when he saw the box catch, ignite and then nearly explode, turning to grin at Amadeus.

Amadeus couldn't help but grin back.

"God, I hate those things," Tim said, admiring the shooting flames.

"It maaaay end up setting the transporter on fire, so as satisfying as this is, maybe we should..."

"Shhhhhh, in a minute," Tim said, watching the fire intently.

They had settled on testing with the Pop-Tarts because they were the closest they could get to complex organic material without sacrificing something they might need later. Also, six weeks into being in this dimension with a mostly Pop-Tart diet had taken its toll on their overall morale. If something exploded, Amadeus wanted it to be Pop-Tarts.

They let the box burn for probably a bit longer than they should have before putting out the flames and going back to the drawing board.

It took them a few more days of tweaking the machinery before they had their first successful test.

They had decided, a few weeks before, that the best course of action was to use the device Amadeus had been using during his mishap for their return trip. It was more stable than the one Tim had been working on, and it would put them back into Amadeus's lab where fewer things would, potentially, catch on fire or explode.

After determining that something about the foil wrapper around the Pop-Tarts was causing the fires, they finally started unwrapping the Pop-Tarts before transporting them. It took another few days before the Pop-Tarts were, ostensibly, transported in one piece.

They moved on to larger items, transporting logs, large tree branches, and eventually, a large potted ficus that had survived within the confines of the lobby of Starr Labs.

As each day passed, they got closer and closer. They both knew it. Success was within their reach and they both worked tirelessly.

They had found some construction lights and with a couple of extension cords, they lit the laboratory and powered the machine using the solar panel they had attached to their car. That made it easier to work late into the night.

Sleeping less, eating less, working more, working harder, they made progress in leaps and bounds, barely needing to speak to each other anymore when suggesting and implementing improvements.

When they came to what Amadeus was hoping to be their final test, they found another large plant. Amadeus didn't know what it was for sure, but it was large and heavy and very pokey. It was in a giant ceramic pot painted an appalling seafoam green. Large waxy leaves jutted up out of the dirt into sharp points that stuck Amadeus several times as he lugged it on to the transporter.

Stepping back off the platform, he moved over to where Tim was standing near the instrument panel.

"Ready?" Tim asked, eyes on the readouts, double-checking their settings.

Amadeus puffed out a sigh and nodded.

"As ready as we're gonna be," he confirmed

Tim looked at Amadeus and gave him a sly grin.

"If nothing catches on fire, I would argue that we're done, AC," Tim said.

"Godspeed, Mr. Pokey," Amadeus said, giving the plant an elaborate military-style salute.

Tim huffed out a short, soundless laugh and shook his head.

"Here we go," he said and hit the switches on the control panel in the proper sequence.

There was a loud, sizzling sound and a bright flash of light. Their construction lighting flickered for a moment and went out as the machinery drained the power from the solar panels outside. Squinting through the glare, Amadeus could make out the outline of his laboratory in his own dimension before the light got too bright and he had to look away.

There was a sharp acrid scent to the air and Amadeus could dimly hear Tim flipping off the switches over the rush of noise. When the sound and the light faded, the two of them peered over to the transporter base. Amadeus’s heart was pounding as he took in the platform. His eyes were still adjusting to the new darkness

It was Tim's joyful whoop that made Amadeus realize they had been successful. A few moments later his eyes readjusted and focused on the empty platform.

Mr. Pokey was gone.

No fires remained, not even any smoke.

Just an empty platform.

As if nothing had ever been there at all.

Amadeus let out a happy shout and Tim jumped into his arms. Picking Tim off the floor in a large bear hug, Amadeus held his thin, wriggling body close. They were both speaking at the same time but neither of them was saying anything coherent.

Everything was a blur of joyful sound and frenetic energy. When he thought back to that moment later, he could never really remember who kissed who but suddenly, Tim's mouth was pressed against his own. Tim's hands were tangled into his too-long hair and his breath tickled the beard that had grown across Amadeus’s face in the past few weeks.

A jolt ran through Amadeus then, one of joy, one of pleasure, one of absolute certainty in their success, and his want and their need. 

Tim felt so good in his arms, so passionate, so alive, so warm and perfect.

When Tim finally stiffened, pulled back from the kiss, it took a minute for Amadeus's brain to catch up to the fact that they were no longer kissing. 

Tim's hands were braced against his shoulders, pushing back against Amadeus a little. His back was arched against the press of Amadeus's arm and his eyes were wide with surprise. He was panting, slightly and he bit at his damp lower lip before looking away from Amadeus.

"You should... You should put me down," Tim said in a low, husky voice. "We should check that we haven't damaged the solar panels..."

Amadeus didn't want to put Tim down, but he did it anyway. He set the other man gently on his feet and Tim took off immediately, moving towards the doorways, not looking Amadeus in the face.

Amadeus took a minute to catch his own breath before following after him. His body still sang with passion and he could still taste Tim on his lips, but he went.

Tim was checking the power levels on the panels when Amadeus finally made his way back outside.

"They'll need to charge before we can do it again," Tim said, focused on the readouts. "They'll need at least 12 more hours of sunlight."

"So this time tomorrow, we'll be home," Amadeus said, coming up beside Tim to peek down at his readouts.

Tim stiffened but didn't make any move to pull away.

"Seems like," Tim said, his voice soft and low, deliberately neutral.

Amadeus watched Tim out of the corner of his eye. It was nearly sunset outside but even in the fading light, Amadeus could see the flush across Tim's cheeks.

"Sweet victory, at last," Amadeus joked, smiling at Tim in what he hoped was a reassuring way. “No more Pop-Tarts and instant ramen.”

Tim gave him a wry, crooked smile back.

Amadeus let out a low breath of air he hadn't realized he was holding as relief washed through him. He hadn't realized how worried he would be that Tim would pull away after the kiss.

"Anyone ever tell you that you're a lot like a coyote?" Amadeus asked, conversationally as he gestured for Tim to follow him back inside.

"I've been compared to any number of things, but I have to say that a coyote is not one of them," Tim replied archly. "Do you have a lot of experience with coyotes that allows you to speak with any level of authority on the subject?"

"I do actually. Kirby is a coyote."

"Wait, I thought you said Kirby was your dog?" Tim asked as they walked back into Starr Labs, picking their way back to the lab that contained the transporter.

"I tell most people he's a dog but he's actually a coyote," Amadeus explained. "What I told you was true. I found him as a puppy after his mother got hit by a car."

Tim hummed interestedly as he made his way back over to the control panels. The two of them worked to flick off the switches and power down the machine.

"Anyway, Kirby had no interaction with humans before he met me and while I was his one and only food source, he was still wary. I always felt, with him, it was one step forward two steps back. I would feed him, he would take food from my hands and then he'd bite my finger."

Tim huffed out a breath and gave Amadeus an arch look.

"AC, I kissed you, I didn't bite you," Tim said, head tilted to one side. His face was illuminated strangely by the electronic light of the readouts, but Amadeus could see the annoyed expression on his face.

"You kissed me and then you pushed me away and walked out of the room instead of doing it again," Amadeus pointed out.

"The kiss was a bad idea..."

"Why?"

"I-- AC, you do realize that the minute we step through that transporter into our own respective universes we will very likely never see each other again," Tim said, his voice exasperated and annoyed.

His body language was defiant, his mouth twisted into an angry expression. His arms were crossed over his chest and his eyes glinted in the dim light.

"That might be true," Amadeus conceded.

"So you take my point."

"No," Amadeus said, shaking his head.

"No?"

"If that is the case, if we will never see each other again, what have you got to lose?"

Tim's expression crumpled then, turning from anger into pain. He bit his lower lip and shook his head, his shoulders slumping. Amadeus stepped in close to him. He wrapped his arms around Tim and pulled him into a hug.

"While neither of us planned to be here, neither of us planned on this, these may be the last few hours we have together, Tim. And I don't want to leave with any regrets."

Tim let out a low ragged breath and Amadeus could feel Tim relaxing into his arms, as if all the energy, all the muscle, all the strength had drained out of him in that one moment. He melted into Amadeus, pressing himself along the line of his body. He buried his face into Amadeus's chest and shook slightly.

"I don't either," Tim admitted, his voice muffled by Amadeus's shirt. "It's just that I... It's been so long since I…"

Tim shook his head and swallowed hard. Amadeus could feel Tim's heart pounding in his chest.

“I’m just really bad at saying goodbye,” Tim finished, and his voice broke in a heartbreakingly familiar way. “Is, I guess, what this is right now.”

"I know," Amadeus said softly. "Me too."

Amadeus felt his heart almost break at that. He knew what Tim meant, by that. He knew how it felt to keep losing people. Constantly. 

After his parents died, after Hercules died, after everything that happened with Viv and Kamala and Miles...

It all made Amadeus desperate to hold someone close.

It was clear that the same kind of pain made Tim desperate to push people away.

Tim wasn't pushing back now, though.

"Me too," Amadeus repeated gruffly, hugging Tim tighter. "So I'm going to do everything I can right now to keep you as close to me as I can for as long as I can."

Amadeus kissed Tim again then, leaning down to press his mouth softly against Tim's cheek, the corner of his mouth, his soft, tender lips. He lost himself in Tim’s taste, the feel of him, the scent of him high in the air.

“And what about when it’s time to leave?” Tim whispered against his mouth. 

“That sounds like a problem for Tomorrow Amadeus and Tomorrow Tim.”

Tim huffed out a silent laugh and Amadeus smiled as he kissed him again.

^*^*^*^*^**^

Kissing Amadeus Cho was a challenge. He was a big man with broad shoulders and...

Well... 

He was a big man.

Even rocked up on his tiptoes, Amadeus had to bend down quite a bit for them to kiss. His back and neck muscles strained when he wrapped his arms around AC's shoulders and deepened the kiss.

Tim could feel the heat coming off of Amadeus as their mouths pressed together with each desperate kiss. Even through the fabric of his shirt, Tim could feel Amadeus's muscles quiver. His skin felt damp under Tim's fingers and he was panting slightly into each kiss as if he wanted to breathe Tim in.

Amadeus's arms pressed Tim tight to his chest and Tim could feel them twitch as he tried his best to resist lifting Tim back up into his arms.

"I want to... I want to..." Amadeus panted and shook his head as if straining to think beyond the waves of passion roiling through him.

"Yeah," Tim husked back. "Me too."

Amadeus was a big man, but if there was one thing Tim had learned over the years, it was how to move a big man. Tim twisted out of Amadeus's arms and, pressing his hands against the other man's broad biceps, Tim pushed him. Amadeus stumbled backward and when the long expanse of his back hit one of the dusty walls of the laboratory, he out of a puff of air, more from surprise than the force of it.

Tim smiled up at him wickedly, and then hooked his foot behind Amadeus's leg, gently taking him down into a kneeling position, back against the wall. He looked up at Tim with wide, dark green eyes, his mouth plump, and damp from their kisses.

"You're gonna be just as bossy in bed, aren't you?" Amadeus asked with a breathless smile.

"It's the only way I know how to live," Tim said, stepping in so his legs were on either side of Amadeus's thick thighs. He had to spread his legs wide to step in close and he wrapped his arms around Amadeus's neck again, leaning in until their lips almost touched.

Everything between them had been happening both very fast and very slow. Tim felt like he spent so much time waiting for his brain to catch up with his heart that he hadn't been appreciating the moments the two of them shared.

And right now, Tim wanted to appreciate.

Tim put a gentle hand on either side of Amadeus's face, his palms taking in the texture of the thick beard as his fingertips ghosted over the skin just above Amadeus's cheekbones. Controlling the tilt of Amadeus's head, Tim nuzzled in close, brushing his mouth lightly against Amadeus's before nipping at his lower lip and then deepening the kiss.

Amadeus stilled, his body going rigid as his lips quivered against Tim's.

Tim hummed as he pulled back to nuzzle at Amadeus's ear.

"Mmmm, that's what I wanted," Tim husked, before nipping gently at Amadeus's ear lobe.

"You wanted... to drive me so crazy I can't think?" Amadeus ventured breathlessly.

"I mean, I wanted that kiss, but I'm fine with the end result," Tim agreed, kissing his way down Amadeus's neck to the collar of his shirt.

"I'm going to take your clothes off now," Tim said, leaning down to tug at the hem of Amadeus's t-shirt.

"Absolutely," Amadeus said, fumbling to help Tim pull the shirt over his head. Tim tossed it to the floor before rocking back on his heels and taking Amadeus in.

The skin on Amadeus's chest was unmarred by scars and damp with sweat, flushed a darker green across his chest down his stomach. Thick pectoral muscles tensed and his stomach quivered as he breathed in hard.

He was only wearing a pair of basketball shorts. They were a thin orange mesh that stood out starkly against the flushed green of his skin. The thin material stretched over the thick, flexed muscles of his thighs and did little to hide the jutting erection between his legs.

Tim swallowed hard and flicked his eyes back up to Amadeus's face. Amadeus was watching him with fervent but cautious eyes, darkened by desire.

"I'm this big and this green pretty much all over so..."

Tim huffed out a laugh and collapsed forward, pressing his forehead to Amadeus's.

"I figured. I am a detective, you know," Tim teased, pressing a kiss to the corner of Amadeus's mouth.

"I just didn't want..."

"I have scars," Tim said, cutting him off, wanting to say something before he had to watch Amadeus's expression change when he saw the knotted lines of scar tissue that crisscrossed Tim's body.

"I've... I saw..." Amadeus said, swallowing hard looking up at Tim with wide, dark eyes.

"They're... I don’t like… The scar tissue is... sensitive..."

"I'll be careful," Amadeus promised, his voice just a low husk against Tim's mouth.

Swallowing hard, Tim nodded and rocked back to pull his own shirt over his head. He tossed it to the floor. Almost as if by magnetism, Amadeus's hands were on him. Large, calloused palms skated up his back, gently pulling Tim into a close hug, pressing their bare chests together.

Amadeus's skin felt impossibly hot, almost feverish, against Tim's. He almost expected steam to waft up from his softly panting mouth. Amadeus's muscles strained with the effort to stay in control, but he did keep his promise.

He was careful.

Long, thick fingers ghosted gently across Tim's back and shoulders. Hot, damp lips kissed their way from Tim's mouth, to the base of his jaw and then down further to his neck. Tim shivered as Amadeus pressed his soft, full mouth down Tim's lightly bearded neck, gasping when he let his tongue trace the column of Tim's throat.

Tim's hands came up to grip at Amadeus's thick damp hair. It took Tim several long moments before the buzzing in his ears died down enough to hear the sounds he was making.

"You... God, you sound--" Amadeus broke off then, swallowing hard and saying something in Korean that sounded like a swear word or a prayer.

"You--" Tim started and then he heard the dizzying thickness in his voice and tried again. "That feels... very good."

"You feel very good," Amadeus gritted out, his eyes turning from something gentle and reassuring to something wilder, something filled with want and...

Tim bit his bottom lip and traced the bearded line of Amadeus's jaw with his fingers before taking a deep breath and trying hard to control his breathing.

"I want to say something super cool and a little sexy, right now," Tim said breathlessly. "But I can't think of anything so I think it's probably just better if I suck you off instead."

Amadeus choked on a laugh, closing his eyes and shaking his head, shoulders rocking with it. Tim took that opportunity to take a step back and drop to his knees beside Amadeus.

Not giving the other man the time to recover from his laughing fit, Tim leaned in and pressed a hot, wet kiss to his stomach, just inches above the waistband of his basketball shorts. Amadeus's laughter broke off with a stuttering inhalation and he swore softly again and went still.

Tim kissed his way across and down Amadeus's belly, nuzzling at the waistband of his shorts before pressing his mouth wetly over his cloth-covered erection. Breathing warm air through the fabric, Tim brought one hand up to play at the waistband and the other to cup Amadeus's through his thin shorts.

Amadeus let out a low groan and Tim looked up to see Amadeus throw his head back and take in one long deep breath. Tim felt Amadeus through the shorts, changing his grip and pressure minutely as he watched the other man.

"I'm going to be honest with you," Tim said. "I've been wanting to do this since the minute you found these damned shorts."

Amadeus opened his eyes to look down at Tim with an amused but exasperated expression on his face.

"You have some sort of basketball kink?" Amadeus asked, tilting his head in amusement.

"It turns out, and I just discovered this maybe a week ago, I kind of have a thing for well-endowed men wearing loose shorts without boxers."

Amadeus laughed breathlessly and Tim decided one of his favorite things in the world was to listen to Amadeus's laughter stutter and catch while Tim stroked his erection through it.

"You are... probably my favorite person," Amadeus said, smiling down at Tim with so much affection and trust and love and life in his eyes that all Tim could handle doing in that moment was tugging Amadeus's shorts down to just below his erection and wrapping his mouth around it.

He was big, hot, and thick in Tim's mouth. The slick salty taste of his pre-come spread across Tim's tongue as he played his mouth over Amadeus's erection. Tim's hands were splayed on Amadeus's straining thigh muscles. The head of his cock filled Tim's mouth so perfectly, flaring out as Tim opened wide to take him in, take him deeper.

Amadeus let out a high pitched, broken off cry, and his hands buried themselves in Tim's hair. He didn't tug, he didn't pull, he didn't demand. It was more like he was holding Tim's hair just so he could feel this moment a little better, feel it with his hands as well as his body as he silently, desperately begged Tim to take him deeper.

Every accidental tug of his fingers in Tim’s hair, every aborted thrust of his hips, every broken off cry and desperate phrase Tim wrung from him was perfect. It was everything. It was all Tim needed and--

Tim felt a gentle, shaking hand on his face, coaxing him up and off Amadeus's erection. Tim pulled off and looked up into Amadeus's face.

Amadeus was tense all over, muscles straining as sweat broke out across this skin. Tim licked at the pre-come on his lips and Amadeus's face crumpled for a minute as he shivered. Tim could feel Amadeus's cock twitch in his hand.

"You... Are going to kill me, Tim," Amadeus gasped out.

"Mostly, I just wanted to get you off..." Tim drawled, his voice hoarse.

Amadeus shivered again before nodding down towards Tim's own pants.

"Lose those, yeah?"

Tim kicked off the jeans he was wearing along with the pair of boxer briefs before Amadeus pulled him back in close.

Tim straddled Amadeus's hips, legs splayed wide over his thighs, arms wrapped around his neck. Tim looked up at Amadeus, dark green eyes, flickering with passion, met his own. Tim swallowed hard and licked his lips again.

Amadeus shut his eyes and shivered, swallowing hard and Tim moved his hand to trace lightly at the corded muscle on Amadeus's throat.

"When you do that..."

"Do what?"

"Lick... Lick, oh anything, really. I just--"

Tim rocked forward and leaned in to nuzzle again at Amadeus's ear.

"I didn't have to stop, you know," Tim husked.

"You really did."

"Why?"

"Because," Amadeus said through gritted teeth, leaning forward to press his forehead to Tim's. "What I really want to do, what I’ve been thinking about for days, is coming all over you."

A wave of arousal washed over Tim at that. A flash in Tim's mind, him bent back over Amadeus's thighs as that thick, huge erection pulsed between them...

Tim found himself letting out a low gasping breath.

Amadeus all but growled at that, pulling Tim in, sliding him up his thighs until they were close together. Tim felt his erection pressed against the thick column of Amadeus's and his breathing stuttered. A huge, hot hand wrapped around them both, and Tim felt his back arch as Amadeus gripped them both. Moving into a steady rhythm, Amadeus rocked up into his hand, rubbing against Tim's erection.

Everything about Amadeus just felt so big. His fist wrapped around Tim's cock, his thick erection pressed against Tim's, his straining thighs, the hand he had pressed against the small of Tim's back to steady him.

Tim scrambled to get a grip around Amadeus's neck to help him balance as he rocked into the same rhythm as Amadeus's hips, moving up into the tight tunnel of Amadeus's fist. Slick with his spit and pre-come they moved fluidly, rocking together with an almost frantic edge to their movements.

Then the hand Amadeus had on Tim's back moved, skating down over the curve of Tim's ass until thick, blunt fingers dipped and...

Tim didn't have the breath to shout but he wanted to.

His legs were splayed so wide over Amadeus's thighs, he was spread open almost despite himself and he...

Amadeus didn't press inside. The thick, blunt tips of his long, fingers just played at Tim's hole, circling, teasing, just pressing but not in, never in, not...

Not enough...

Tim was swearing as he felt himself rocking into Amadeus's fist and trying hard to rock back against his finger.

Amadeus grunted and moved his pressing fingers away from Tim. Before Tim could protest he could see Amadeus slipping his fingers into his soft, full mouth.

Wild with it, almost incoherent, Tim reached out, feeling Amadeus's lips spread out, his mouth wetting his fingers. They locked eyes for one hot, fervent moment before Amadeus dropped his hand back down again.

Hot, slick fingers played at Tim's hole and he cried out at the sensation. Amadeus growled, pressing just inside of Tim, and moved them both, rocking them into his fist.

Tim cried out, shutting his eyes against the pure sensation. Flexing his hips up into Amadeus's tight fist as a long, very thick finger fucked up into Tim.

Tim came with a gasp, shaking as he clutched Amadeus close. The intensity of it left him shivering and almost boneless. Amadeus's fingers slipped out of him, as he snaked his arm up around Tim's waist to clutch at his shoulder.

Amadeus let out a low, almost broken sound. If it wasn't for size, his strength, Tim would be splayed out on the floor right now. Instead, Amadeus was holding him upright with one arm, the other hand working himself in fast, aggressive strokes. He watched Tim with intent eyes as his hand moved, hot and fast between them until...

Thick spatters of come hit Tim's chest and belly just as Amadeus cried out, shouting Tim's name in a broken, desperate cry. Shivering as he rocked back against the wall, Amadeus pulled Tim along with him. They held each other, sticky with sweat and come, as they caught their breath.

"We don't..." Tim began, then caught his breath and tried again. "The solar shower is out of water... We can't rinse off..."

Amadeus looked up at him, eyes still warm and intent.

"I don't mind," Amadeus said, still a little short of breath. "I'm fine going home with your scent all over me."

Tim puffed out a laugh and collapsed forward onto AC. He pressed his face into Amadeus’s neck as he caught his breath.

“Eh, no one will be able to smell you over the scent of charred Pop-Tarts anyway.”

^*^*^*^*^**^

Amadeus had been worried Tim would pull away from him when they woke up the next morning, but Tim was cheerful and talkative.

They didn't bother trying to figure out breakfast. Amadeus woke to Tim slipping out of bed and he followed suit. They two of them made their way outside to check the power levels on the batteries for the solar panels.

Tim eyed the readouts and grinned at him excitedly.

"Another 45 minutes and we should be good," Tim said with a smile.

"Just enough time for the checklist."

"Exactly," Tim agreed.

There was excitement in the air between the two of them as they worked through their pre-transport checklist. They double-checked switches, connectivity, settings, and wires.

The plan was to send Amadeus through to his transporter first. If anything was to happen in the transportation process, say someone catching on fire or something, Amadeus's increased healing factor would help him through it. Then Amadeus would use his equipment to pull Tim into his dimension, then send Tim back to his own with the more reliable transporter.

"Settings on panel four?" Tim called to Amadeus, looking intently down at the checklist.

"Set!" Amadeus called back, eyeing the panel for the fourth time.

He would be lying to say he wasn't feeling a little trepidation. They had essentially built this transporter with spare parts and while all indications from their tests showed it was working properly, Amadeus did wish they had a mouse or something to test the thing with.

"Ok, we should be all good to go, then," Tim said, looking up from his list. "I'm going to go make sure the batteries are fully charged and then we're ready."

Leaving the clipboard behind, Tim ventured back outside to check on the charge.

Amadeus eyed the transporter platform and took a deep breath.

They had been in this wasteland for six weeks now. It had been surreal. Like time had stopped while the two of them got to know each other as they worked on building out their way home.

Amadeus wondered if anyone back home was looking for him or wondering where he was. While he did miss his friends he wasn't looking forward to the drama machine that was the Champions or how helpless he felt leading the Agents of Atlas sometimes.

Even when he was around all of them, even while he knew they were his friends.

Amadeus hadn't really understood what loneliness felt like until he lost Hercules. He never realized a person could be surrounded by friends who loved them and still feel lonely.

Tim was the first person Amadeus had met since then that seemed to understand that. He was the first person since Hercules who made Amadeus feel like someone understood him.

It would be lonely again, without him.

Taking a deep breath, Amadeus wandered up onto the platform and stood on it, still smelling the ozone from the test run the night before hanging around in the air.

Tim swept in a moment later and grinned up at him.

"Ready to do this?" Tim asked, turning to the control panel.

Amadeus leaned over the railing they had built up around the platform. Tim was looking at an instrument panel that was a few feet below the platform, the control panel that would send Amadeus back to his own universe.

"Now?" Amadeus asked.

Tim turned and grinned up at him.

"You're not nervous, are you? The big strong Brawn worried about a little multidimensional transportation?" Tim teased.

Amadeus grinned down at him and nodded to the screen in front of Tim.

"Hey man, even my strength can't save me from bad math."

"My math is never bad," Tim promised him, using one of the railings to pull himself up. Amadeus leaned down and they kissed, Tim hanging on to the metal bar and Amadeus leaning out over the control panel below. His mouth was soft and warm and Amadeus longed to pull Tim up and into his arms to hold him close.

When they broke the kiss, Tim gave Amadeus one last grin before hopping back down to the floor. Amadeus felt the distance between them like a physical weight. 

"You're not wearing any metal, right? No Pop-Tart wrappers in your pockets?" Tim called up to him.

Amadeus swallowed hard, trying to compose himself while he patted himself down theatrically.

"Nope! All clear!" he called down to Tim, working hard to keep his voice even.

"Alright. Hold on to your butt," Tim called up to him as he moved through the sequence flicking switches and checking readings.

"Yup," Amadeus said, feeling his heart start to beat faster. He took a deep, calming breath as he watched Tim. "See you on the other side."

Tim looked up at him over one shoulder as the machine started to power up. The scent of ozone started to thicken in the air and Amadeus felt the hairs on the back of his neck start to prick up.

"Count on it," Tim said before he flicked the last switch.

That's when the world dissolved around him and Amadeus felt like he was falling. He threw his arms out instinctively to catch his balance but there was nothing to stand on, no center of gravity to find and for one long minute Amadeus couldn't feel anything in the world around him. Bright lights flashed gold and pink and orange. All he could see was waves of light and there was a profound absence of sound. He couldn't see shapes, he couldn't smell, he couldn't hear or feel.

There was no anchor, no point of focus...

Just as he was about to panic, his feet hit the ground hard. He stumbled and reached out again, trying to catch his balance but his hand hit on to something solid. He swore as he felt the skin on his knuckles tear. He went down on one knee and suddenly the bright lights dimmed and things came back into focus. He realized he was in his lab at home.

His skin felt damp with a cold moisture, his clothes wet and a mist coming off of him. All he could smell was ozone and something burnt. Stumbling to his feet, Amadeus blinked, shaking his head as he caught his balance.

He was in his lab and there were various piles of Pop-Tarts, potted plants, and the other random items they had sent through the transporter that week. Stumbling around them, Amadeus made his way over to the readings on his transporter to see that he was, in fact, back in his own universe.

Sighing with relief when he saw the readout had the correct coordinates, Amadeus worked quickly to power up his own machine. 

He entered the coordinates for the machine he and Tim had built, then double-checked all the settings. It was nearly ten minutes later when the machine was ready was pull Tim into his dimension.

"Please be standing in the right spot right now," Amadeus begged Tim across the various universes, then he hit the button to bring Tim to his universe, holding his breath in anticipation. He didn’t breath for several long moments as the transporter hummed and buzzed around him.

Amadeus had to shut his eyes against the glare of the light when it activated. The transportation process took a lot longer than he would have liked. It was probably three minutes before the light and noise died down. He squinted up to see a huddled figure on their hands and knees in the middle of the transporter platform. Tim was making dry heaving noises, coughing, and gagging.

Amadeus rushed up over to him, picking his way through the litter of Pop-Tarts and trash he kneeled down next to Tim on the transporter pad.

Tim looked up at him with a grim smile, tears in his eyelashes, his face white as a sheet. He looked like hell but he was in one piece and Amadeus couldn't help but sigh in relief.

It was over and Tim was safe.

"Are you home?"

"Yup," Amadeus said. "I'm back and we're safe."

Tim let out a puff of air and then immediately started coughing again. Amadeus ran a soothing hand over his back and Tim gave him a grateful smile around the tears in his eyes. Amadeus smiled back.

Amadeus ran them both through some tests to make sure they hadn't been exposed to any type of radiation or known virus in the Wasteland they had escaped. It took some time but their tests came up clean and while the unspoken curiosity of what had happened in that world eddied between them, neither of them had the mental energy to feel anything but relief that they were essentially in good shape after their ordeal. They had both lost a few pounds and were sporting post-apocalyptic beards but otherwise, they were fine.

Tim was scanning the results of his tests, his face intent on the computer screen as he skimmed through long columns of text. 

"I'm surprised we got away without so much as tetanus," Tim mused, still scanning the documents.

"I am, luckily, up on my shots," Amadeus joked and Tim smiled up at him.

Amadeus smiled back and reached out a hand to run along Tim's bearded jawline. Tim grimaced and shook his head.

"It'll be nice to shower and shave."

"I have a bathroom," Amadeus offered, wiggling his eyebrows at Tim. “It has a very nice, very hot shower. I could… wash your hair… among other things…”

"I need to get home," Tim said with a sad smile.

"Yeah, that's the part I was hoping to delay."

Tim just shook his head and didn't meet Amadeus's eyes.

"I get it," Amadeus said, pulling his hand back and stepping away from Tim. "I need to make sure my universe is in one piece too."

Tim nodded and took a deep breath, eyeing the platform consideringly.

"Maybe we should..."

"Trash the Pop-Tarts so we don't accidentally send them with you? Not your worst idea."

Amadeus didn't have the energy for actually cleaning the pad. The two of them just tossed the refuse over the side before Amadeus went back to the panel.

"You sure you're up for another trip so soon?" Amadeus asked, getting the control panel ready.

"That was, actually, the least sick I've ever felt after transporting."

"Yeah, the dragon scales help," Amadeus said absently.

"Next time," Tim started and then broke off. "Next time, you're taking me to see the dragons."

Amadeus turned and grinned up at him.

"Count on it."

Tim smiled back and Amadeus felt his heart clench a little at the sight. He turned back to the panel and swallowed hard. Letting out a low sigh, he punched in the coordinates Tim recited to him and then read them back to Tim to double-check.

"Ok, we're all set," Amadeus said and looked up at Tim.

"Thanks, AC. For everything," Tim said, smiling sadly at him.

"Hey, this isn't goodbye," Amadeus said, his throat feeling tight. "We're gallant superheroes for whom time, space, and dimension are no object."

"Oh right," Tim said, breathing out a laugh. "Sometimes I forget."

"I'll see you soon," Amadeus said softly.

"Count on it," Tim said.

Amadeus smiled at him and then turned to flick the switch. The blast of light and ozone came again and then--

Tim was gone.

And Amadeus was standing in a lab full of half-burnt, stale Pop-Tarts and sad potted plants.

That felt... pretty on message for him actually.

With a sigh, Amadeus made his way out of his lab to see if he had any more dragon scales.

^*^*^*^*^**^

The dragon scales really did make the inter-dimensional travel less horrific. Tim only dry heaved a little when he reappeared back on the transporter platform in the Batcave.

It was clearly early in the day because the Cave was totally empty. He had a few minutes to himself to do some deep breathing exercises to get his stomach under control before feet pounding down the stairs heralded Bruce and Damian's arrival.

Tim stumbled up into a standing position and shook his head, swallowing hard.

Bruce was eyeing him consideringly while Damian's expression of disgust was pretty par for the course coming from him.

"Transporter mishap," Tim explained to Bruce. "What's today?"

"It's Tuesday the 12th. You have a beard."

"I do have a beard," Tim agreed and then did some quick counting. As Amadeus predicted, it seemed they hadn't actually lost any time during their mishap. He had ended up in the Wasteland on Monday the 11th. "So, I've only been gone for... what time is it?"

"It's 11 am."

"Less than 12 hours then," Tim said, hopping down from the transporter.

"Where were you?" Bruce asked. "We'll need to debrief and decontaminate."

Tim dutifully scrubbed down in the decontamination showers. But he pointedly ignored the razor Bruce left for him. Mostly out of spite and but also a little because he felt too tired to deal with a blade that close to his face.

He pulled on a uniform, now a touch too big for him as he had lost a little weight. Bruce was hovering and Tim was ignoring him which always made him hover more but Tim didn’t have the energy required for the level of dissimulation to get him off his back. 

Waving off Bruce’s questions, Tim made his way to the computer. Alfred left a plate of sandwiches for him and Tim ate as he typed up a brief, heavily abridged report of what had happened. While Tim worked, Bruce sent Dick off to carefully retrieve Tim’s malfunctioning transporter. 

Tim was sitting at the chair in front of the main bank of computers in the Cave as he finished reading through and editing his report. Bruce was watching him out of the corner of one eye while he pretended to repair a circuit on his belt. 

Dick called out a hello that echoed through the Cave. Bruce went over to watch him carefully deposit Tim’s malfunctioning transporter on a workbench. Bruce was disconnecting the power source when Dick came up behind the chair where Tim was sitting and hung over the back.

“Hey, bud. Rough couple of days?” Dick asked, smiling down at Tim.

“The beard was a giveaway?” Tim asked wryly.

“Mostly you forgetting your phone was the giveaway,” Dick said. “You’re usually attached to the thing.”

“Yeah, I had to leave it behind. The metal inside could have confounded the--”

Tim trailed off as Dick held a cell phone carefully between two his thumb and middle fingers.

The phone was a type he didn’t recognize and it was tucked into a neat green phone case. 

“What--?” Tim started, reaching for the phone. 

“You left it on the transporter, Little Brother. I think you need some sleep.”

“It was on the transport?” Tim asked, taking it from Dick and flicking it open with his thumb.

“Yup. Just be glad it was me who found it and not Bruce or Damian. Looks like you got a message or two while you were working,” Dick said before giving Tim a smile. Tim grimaced at him. 

Dick ignored the look and gave Tim a pat on the shoulder and a quick kiss on the forehead before walking over to talk to Damian and Goliath. 

Tim thumbed the phone open. There were text notifications from someone named Tim’s Sweet Sweet Loverboy. Fighting down a smile, Tim shook his head.

Opening the texts, he read through them, feeling an affectionate warmth flow through him as he did.

*Hey beautiful. I hope you like your brand new dragon scale powered phone. I was thinking that if the dragon scales can transport people, maybe they can transmit data, so let’s see if this works. Sending now.*

Tim smiled to himself as he scrolled down to the next messages. The next text had come through a few minutes later. Apparently, after AC had sent it through the transporter.

*Did it work? Did you get this? Text me back!!!*

*Tiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmm text meeeeeee!!!*

*I really hope this phone didn’t catch on fire. That would not be cool.*

*I have so many Pop-Tarts to clean up*

*I hate Pop-Tarts.*

*Want pizza so bad.*

*Tim!!!!*

With a small breathless laugh, Tim typed back.

*Hey AC, did you find the pizza?*

*It worked! Yes, I found it. I ate two whole pizzas. Next time we do an interdimensional romp, let’s make sure it’s in a place where there is more food.*

*Count on it, AC.*

**Author's Note:**

> This was entirely self-indulgent but I wanted it so I wrote it.


End file.
